Fall Fun

This week we have been having a lot of fun celebrating the beginning of Fall!

I have started trying to do little arts & crafts classes once or twice a month with different friends. It is great to get the kids together and be creative and then have time to chat with other moms.

This week we made chocolate chip acorns

Most of the kids probably put way more chocolate in their mouthes than on their acorns... Andrew included :)

We also made cute Fall trees

I think I have just as much fun making the example projects as the kids do making the actual project!

Andrew and I also made this funny acorn man yesterday

and did some leaf sorting and leaf puzzle playing

I have also been doing Fall nesting... which means cleaning out places like my craft cupboard! I am having a giveaway on my Toddler blog to get rid of some of the duplicate things that I bought (and don't really need)... but that are brand new. Check out the blog if you want some free stuff :) All you need to do is comment and tell me a fun Fall activity you like to do with your kids (or a Fall craft that you like to do) and you might end up winning a package full of Fall stuff. I need some new craft ideas for my craft class next week... so if you are crafty please comment!

Toddler Approved

Our last Fall fun (NOT!) activity we've been doing is spending A LOT of time in the bathroom. All I've got to say is that NOT potty training Andrew is wasting way too much of my time. He wants to go to the bathroom (#2) and then will get there... and say "I don't want to go" and so I'll say, "That's ok" and we'll go back to playing, then we'll repeat the process again and again until we've literally spent all afternoon NOT going to the bathroom... and then eventually he'll go to the bathroom (in the toilet). Such a painful process... especially since I DON'T want to be potty training him... but don't want to screw it up for when I do want to potty train him in the future... so I just positively reinforce every attempt with praise. He hasn't had a stinky diaper in a week... it's all been in the toilet, but it has been such a frustrating week (for me)! Do they have any books out there about how NOT to potty train your kid and make them wait till you are ready? :)

Special Halloween Delivery!

Yesterday the delivery man rang the doorbell and dropped off a special package for ANDREW! He was so excited! He ran around the house telling the cleaning ladies that he got a special package... and then looked around for anything that he could find to help me open it.

You can't even begin to imagine how excited he was that there were two adorable Halloween shirts hiding in his box! He told everyone that we saw yesterday that he got a shirt with a ghost and a shirt with a spider on it from his Grandma!
If you have spent anytime with Andrew lately... you know he is obsessed with spiders and spider webs, so the spider shirt was an especially big hit. Grandmas are the best! Thank you Shari!!

Grateful!

I feel so fortunate lately to have such wonderful friends, a great neighborhood, a fabulously happy little family, a job that I enjoy, a job that Kevin absolutely loves, and more blessings than we can count.

I know that life has ups and downs and lately I mostly feel like things are "up" for us. I should watch what I say, because that could change very quickly, but I definitely feel it is appropriate to express gratitude at times like these to my Heavenly Father. It makes the harder times a little easier when you can look back and see all the sweet moments you have been blessed with.

A family in my parent's ward in Utah has been going through many hard trials lately, and yet I am uplifted daily by their positive attitude. Melanie's blog, called Positive Outlier, is such a wealth of beautiful quotes and uplifting experiences. It reminds me daily that I need to treasure every little moment that I am given and not take anything for granted. Reading her blog makes it much easier for me to not complain when I am having backaches, trouble breathing, or experiencing crazy two-year old tantrumy days.

I love the quote Melanie shared today by Elder Maxwell: "The very process of daily living makes and breaks followers. Life’s stern seasons and storms overturn those not grounded and rooted. However, those who believe and are sure about Jesus Divinity do not panic, for instance, at the arrival of a new volley of fiery darts; they merely hold aloft the quenching shield of faith.”

I only hope that I can be as faithful and courageous when trials come my way in the future.

These are a few little moments I've loved from the past week that I also managed to snap photos of. Little snippets of time that I treasured. It is amazing how many blessings can be found when you look for them.

Watching Andrew do Latin dancing with the YW...

they were embarrassed, but he got them up and moving

Andrew's LOVE for his daddy. When Kevin arrives home, Andrew runs to the garage door and says, "Hi daddy, did you have a good day at Google today?"

He loves to help his daddy with anything... and his newest thing he carries around everywhere is his flashlight. He manages to use it whenever he "helps" Kevin with anything... and he loves to do anything I ask during the day if his flashlight can help him do it.

Goofing around... we love being silly at our house.

I've loved all the moments lately when I have just laughed and laughed- it just feels so good

Positive attitudes running errands- Andrew finds fun and excitement in every outing... and manages to keep me happy and entertained, even while we wait for paint to get mixed at Home Depot.

Autumn is another blessing! I love the crisp air, beautiful colors, and fun activities.

This afternoon we had the most exquisite run through out neighborhood. The leaves were beautiful and my little guy happily serenaded me with Beatles tunes while we ran hills.

We also treasure the brief moments we get to spend with Kevin lately. He has been gone a lot or working late or out doing church assignments and I hear the words, "I want my daddy!" a lot... to which I sometimes reply with a tear or two, "I want your daddy too." But I also feel that Andrew and I have had so much extra time, just the two of us, to bond and have fun together... which I really think is an added blessing right before our new little one arrives.

I am continually reminded that there are no coincidences. Heavenly Father has a plan for our family and our life and I just need to be faithful and grateful during both the periods of joy and the periods of hardship!

Chocolate Party!

My adorable friends Katharine and Lorna (who used to work with me at Escondido) came up to our house for a playdate today... and brought the fixings for a Chocolate Baby Shower Party along with them!

What sweethearts! I am so lucky to have such thoughtful friends.

The kiddos LOVED the cupcakes that Lorna made.

She even dyed the yellow cake mix pink and then put cute pink candy buttons on top.

Katharine knows how much I love Mrs. Fields cookies... so she made homemade chocolate chip nibblers for us to eat. Mmm! Delicious!

Little dude and Kailee showed how much they liked the treats by covering their faces in chocolate.

These little boys loved chillin in their chairs and watching the big kids play

The party people

Lorna & Katharine even brought cute baby shower gifts!

Caitlin now has some cuddly and warm winter things to wear

Thanks guys! We had such a fun morning and have been enjoying leftover treats and thinking about how thoughtful you are all day!

Loving it

I am loving the little dude's new bed... and so is he! (especially now that he can reach the plantation shutters and open and close them... and now that he has a really big bed to jump on).

Tucked under the mattress is one of these babies... so that the little guy can't fall off his very tall new bed. I love how it can hide completely from view.

View of the room... there are still lots of things to do!

Wall decorations, furniture, closet cupboard building, etc.

Little dude bouncing and yelling on his bed... he newest favorite past time. I tried to see if letting him jump all afternoon yesterday would help him get sick of the novelty of it... but it didn't. Oh well!

He doesn't really "get it" that he can get out of bed yet... I think the huge long bed rail helps with that... but in the early hours of the morning I can hear him open the shutters, see the light, and then he starts yelling, "Mommy, I'm awake now! It's light outside... time to wake up now!"

All of my attempts to convince him that light before 7am isn't real light... didn't work :)

Set up

On Wednesday we had our first virtues class of the year. We stopped going for awhile last year because I didn't think Andrew was old enough to handle the topics they were covering. He still isn't, but I thought we'd go for the social aspect. Most of the other kids are 3.5-5 years old.

This week the class was in a big open field...

and they gave the kids balloons to hold when they arrived...

and then we had a lesson about "unity" and did a few fun activities... like making a sun with streamers. The first two things (open field & balloon) were enough to basically ruin the focus of every kid in the class for the entire time. Balloons kept popping, kids kept running... it was pretty funny.

Little dude loved it when they passed a big blue ball around...

... and then after 40 minutes of hanging out on the rug, they read the kids a story. Andrew was done by that point and ran off and hid behind a tree. I was impressed he'd kept it together and participated for as long as he did. I felt bad because it felt like I kind of set him up for failure...

After about an hour of class, they turned the time over to me to lead the arts & crafts portion (they unofficially put me in charge of the art portion of the class each week from now on). Andrew wasn't the only kid that was done by that point... but we muddled through it after some laps around the field.

The kids made cute Fall Unity Wreathes

Andrew gave himself a break from the madness (some of the other moms didn't "get it" that he is 2 years younger than everyone else and couldn't understand why he was running around everywhere and not with the group).

This was his wreath :)

I finally got the little dude back with the group for snack time... though I didn't really care. The afternoon reminded me that I need to a do a better job at not setting Andrew up... and not setting myself up for frustration. It is so easy to worry about what other mom's think... even when their expectations for little kids aren't developmentally appropriate... and then it is easy to get frustrated at your own kid... when really, you shouldn't be. Fortunately I figured that out pretty early into the class. We might only be going for my arts & crafts time from now on :)

A 20-30 min class is long enough!

The kids were darling though and the moms were appreciative of my help... but I think some of them just don't understand little boys (there were only 2 boys at class this week)... or maybe can't remember what their kid was like at age 2.5?

That night I just reminded myself to cherish the enthusiastic and active little boy that I have been blessed with... and enjoy every minute. I already think time is flying by way too fast. Why would I want a dud for a kid anyway, right?

Up the nose

I don't know why... but sometimes I think Andrew is more grown up and smarter than he actually is (maybe because he talks so well?)... and then somedays (like today), I am reminded that he is only two and a half... and not so bright sometimes.

We were doing a fun art project with pictures of his cousins and he was eating raisins. He was eating and I was taping something... and then he said, "Mom, I put a raisin up my nose." And my response was, "Seriously? You didn't really do that did you?"... and he responded with "Yep!' I checked, and "yep!" it was up his nose.

I started freaking out. I don't handle situations like this well at all.

The poor kid was really traumatized and I don't think he will EVER do that again after the trauma of us holding him down and trying to get the raisin out with tweezers. That being said... he is a toddler and has a short attention span... so he definitely could forget the trauma and do it again. :)

Luckily he knows how to blow his nose and just blew the raisin out. Could've saved us a lot of stress if I'd remembered that sooner.

His best grumpy, I'm mad at you face :)